Guest Blogger: Christy V.

As I mentioned last week, I want to bring your voices to this blog. I'm delighted to welcome Christy, our first guest blogger here on Happy Herbivore! Christy did what I love most about cooking -- taking a recipe and "making it your own." See how Christy made my low fat chocolate chip cookies sugar-free!

Christy: I took the recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies in your cookbook (p. 203) and substituted 1 cup of ripe mashed bananas for the 1/2 cup of applesauce and 1/2 cup of sugar. They're really delicious and you can tell yourself you're just eating a banana. ;-)

HH: Yum! What made you use mashed banana instead of applesauce and sugar?

My husband and I recently started trying to follow the Eat Right American Diet which doesn't approve of sugar, so I was trying to come up with a way to have my beloved Chocolate Chip cookies despite the restriction. I thought I'd try bananas since your recipe for Raw Ice Cream is sweet enough without any sugar.

HH: How did they come out?

The cookies are softer and you have to bake them longer. They need 10 to 15 minutes compared to 7 to 10 with the original recipe. I also don't completely mash the banana super thoroughly so sometimes you get a chunk of banana in the cookie, which I consider to be a bonus. In this picture, you can see some of the banana chunks. They look kind of like white chocolate pieces in the cookie:

HH: Mmm. I like the idea of warm banana chunks! Are the cookies sweet, even without sugar?

I don't care for super sweet desserts, and I haven't gotten a good sample of opinions, but my Dad, Step-Dad, Mom and Mother-in-law all really liked them and they tend to like desserts much sweeter than I do. My Dad and Step-Dad have the general public's taste preferences, I think, so if they like something I've made, I know I can bring it to a party and the guests will think it's delicious.

HH: Have you tried any other variations to the original recipe?

I just started substituting finely shredded zucchini for the applesauce since it's zucchini season here in Louisiana. The cookies are on the same sweetness level as before, but with an added vegetable.

HH: The cute little guy in this picture--who is that? your son?

That's my 10-month old son, David. He's the reason I was trying the banana substitution. David has a genetic heart defect (HLHS) so I've been trying to cut out anything from our diet that would put a strain on your heart over the long term (fat, excess sugar, meat, dairy, etc). I'm also trying to boost our overall health through our diet by incorporating more fruits and veggies instead of more grains.

My mother, who also likes to cook, can't stand the idea of a child never having cookies or ice cream or other "treats" so I'm also trying to go through the food she'd want to make for him but making it heart-healthy.

HH: What did David think of the cookies?

David loves bananas sothese cookies were a big hit with him. I pick out the chocolate though since children aren't supposed to have chocolate before they're a year old (according to my pediatrician). I let him gum up little bits of cookie. He's always indignant when I tell him he can't have any more cookie. It's super cute.

Thanks so much for sharing Christy and guest posting! I wish you much luck with your new approach to eating and of course our fingers are crossed for David. I hope his condition improves soon, I know he has a lot of surgeries ahead.

Have you made any variations, modifications or adaptions to this cookie recipe? Please share!